Apple Flavored Love Story
by AmuletFortune98
Summary: {ONESHOT} "Which one did you want?" "That one." I pointed at the large, perfectly round apple hanging from a high up branch. Ikuto gave another sigh and walked to the trunk, beginning to climb the tree. (AU: Amu is 5, Ikuto is 8) AMUTO


Heeeyyy ^-^ It's been a while since I wrote a oneshot, so here you go! I got inspired to write this after I saw this super cute picture on tumblr hehe xD

But anyway, before you read the story you should know that Amu is 5, and Ikuto is 8. I changed their age difference a bit just to make the story a bit more realistic. And Ami isn't born yet, even though she probably should be if Amu is 5 already.. ^^ Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this cute little oneshot!

**I do not own Shugo Chara or any of the characters!**

"Stop it, Ikuto-chan!" I screeched as the blunette boy pulled my hair.

"I told you not to mess up my drawing!" Ikuto said, his voice angry from me accidentally tripping over his drawing and ripping it in half.

"I didn't mean to!" I pleaded, pushing him away from me.

"Ikuto-kun, let go of her please." Mama said in her sweet tone she always had, not even trying to discipline him for being mean to me.

Ikuto finally let go and turned away, picking up the two halves his drawing. "You shouldn't have been running around. Mrs. Hinamori said you shouldn't run in the house."

I looked down in shame, sniffling and trying to hold back my childish tears.

"Ikuto-kun," Mama said softly as she knelt down in front of him, "It's not too bad. We can tape it together." She suggested, gesturing to the ripped paper.

Ikuto gave a quick nod and walked off with Mama into the kitchen to get the tape. I stayed in the living room, embarrassed by myself for ruining something Ikuto seemed proud of.

Ikuto's parents were always away at work, so he often came over to our house to play. He didn't particularly enjoy playing with me because he said he was too old for kid games that I liked, though, so it was mostly me running around and playing while he stayed close by. I always assumed Ikuto hated me because he always scolded me and teased me, but I didn't hate him. I didn't like being an only child, and I really enjoyed the company of another kid, even if he was a little older than me and kinda mean. I learned to forgive and forget and to never hold a grudge against him.

Maybe Ikuto was always grumpy because he barely ever saw his parents or sister. His parents always took his little sister to the daycare when they went off to work and they suggested to bring Ikuto too, but he insisted he was too old for daycare and would rather just stay with us when he was given the option.

Papa and Ikuto's parents used to work together, and they had been really good friends, so when Ikuto refused to go to daycare when his parents weren't home, Papa offered for him to come over to our house. His parents were grateful for the offer and Ikuto didn't seem to mind the idea.

Ikuto came back from the kitchen moments later, his drawing patched up with a long strand of tape on the back. He scowled at me as he sat down and I pouted with an ashamed look.

"Amu-chan, go do your Mama a big favor and pick some apples from the tree outside." Mama said as she walked out of the kitchen, her apron tied around her neck and waist.

Instantly forgetting about ripping the drawing, I jumped up with excitement. "Are you making apple pie, Mama!?"

"You think I don't know how to make the mood lighten up in here?" She grinned at us.

Ikuto blinked up at her for a moment, then looked back at his drawing. He wouldn't admit it, but he liked Mama's apple pie just as much as I did.

"So will you pick some apples for me, Amu-chan?"

I nodded enthusiastically, my hands balled up into fists with excitement. "Of course!"

"You know how to tell if they're ripe, right Amu-chan?" Once I nodded, she smiled and turned to Ikuto. "Will you go with her, Ikuto-kun?"

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and placed his drawing on the table before standing up.

"Yay!" I said happily and ran out the door into the backyard, giggling. I began humming and skipped over to the apple tree, trying my best not trip on any of the rotten apples that had already fallen on the ground. Without waiting for Ikuto, I looked up and tried to scope out a nice, plump, ripe apple. Spotting a really big one, I gasped and walked over to the trunk, starting to climb up.

"Hey, get down!" Ikuto said, running over to the tree in panic.

"B-But... I have to pick the apple..." I said, looking back down at him with a pouty-face that always worked on my Papa.

"That's dangerous! Mrs. Hinamori said she didn't want you climbing the tree."

"B-But... how will I pick the apple?" I asked, enhancing my pouty-face.

"You don't need to pick an apple from the top, there are some you can reach from down here." He said, pouting at the long branch that drooped low enough for me to reach.

"B-But... I wanna pick the apple up there..." I said, pointing as I stared down at him, my pouty-face in full gear.

His angry expression faded a bit as he looked up at me. He hesitated for a moment, then gave a sigh and looked away. "Fine, but let me climb instead."

I grinned widely and climbed down, running over to him with a huge smile. "Thank you, Ikuto-chan!"

A faint tint of pink appeared on his cheeks, then disappeared almost instantly as he looked up at the tree. "Which one did you want?"

"That one." I pointed at the large, perfectly round apple hanging from a high up branch. Ikuto gave another sigh and walked to the trunk, beginning to climb the tree.

My mouth dropped open as I admired his climbing skills. He gracefully stepped from branch to branch, swiftly grabbed the apple, and hopped down with ease. He walked over to me, the apple bigger than his palm, and handed it to me.

I stared at the red perfection, dazed for a moment, then grinned and hugged Ikuto tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The sudden hug seemed to catch him off guard and he took a step back in surprise, then I giggled and pulled away from him. He stared at me with wide eyes, the certain pink tint returned to he cheeks. A beat later, he turned his head away and held out the apple. "J-Just take your stupid apple."

I didn't like the way he called the apple stupid, but that didn't kill my excitement. I took the round fruit in my hands-it being to big for me to hold it with one hand- then giggled with happiness. "I have to go show Mama!" I turned around then dashed toward the house. Without watching my step, my clumsiness took over and I tripped, toppling to the ground and dropping the apple in the process. Before I could tell what had happened, Ikuto was beside me.

"Are you alright, Amu-chan?" He said, his voice soft for once in concern.

I didn't answer. Instead, I sat up, ignoring the grass stains on my new white dress and stared across the ground at the apple.

Once Ikuto realized I wasn't hurt, he started to scold me for running. "You should've been watching where you were going. You were too excited about that stupid apple that you didn't even pay attention to where you were going."

I ignored him as I stared at the round fruit, then crawled over to it slowly. With one hand, I rolled it over to the side it had been dropped on, uncovering the large bruise on the other side. I blinked at it for a moment, then felt a tear slide down my cheek.

Ikuto stopped scolding me once he noticed my tears, and his features softened. He walked over to me and knelt down, looking at the apple. He hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at me as another tear fell.

"I-It was the b-biggest, most prettiest and p-perfectest apple.." I trialed off as Ikuto tried to comfort me.

"There are a lot more apples we can pick."

"A-And I made you g-go and p-pick it..."

"No... I don't mind, we'll just pick some other big ones."

"B-But I wanted to show Mama..." I said, more tears beginning to flow.

At that point, Ikuto didn't know what else to say. He looked down and scrunched his eyebrows together, seeming to be contemplating something. He then looked back at me, his eyebrows still furrowed, and closed his eyes, leaning in pressing his lips to my cheek.

I froze, staring at nothing in particular as the flow of my tears slowed down. After a moment, Ikuto pulled away, seeming to be surprised by his own actions. Once I turned and looked at him, I saw that same tint of pink on his cheeks I had seen before and he quickly stood up, walking quickly back to the tree and picking a couple more apples.

I stared after him, feeling the pink tint approach on my face that I had just seen on Ikuto's face seconds earlier. I blinked, then smiled softly and stood up, skipping over to Ikuto to help pick more apples.

**~End~**


End file.
